Loving, Supporting, and Caring for the Cancer Patient: A Guide to Communication, Compassion, and Courage

Stan Goldberg

Oct 2016 · Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

About this ebook

At least once in your life someone will say to you, “I have cancer,” and when she says the three words, you may struggle with a response. If a loved one or friend hasn’t informed you of a cancer diagnosis, it’s only a matter of time until they will. Every year fourteen million people worldwide learn they are living with or may die from this insidious illness. The uncertainty of cancer causes anxiety in those diagnosed and feelings of inadequacy in loved ones and friends who want to help.

When someone says “I have cancer,” what will you say? More importantly, what will you do? In Loving, Supporting, and Caring for the Cancer Patient, readers will learn specific ways of going beyond the response “I’m so sorry,” and practical behaviors that will ease a loved one or friend’s journey. They range from being specific immediately after a diagnosis, to honoring their loved one or friend at the moment of passing.

Based on Stan Goldberg’s own cancer journey, thirty years of counseling and coaching people living with cancer and their loved ones, and as a bedside volunteer in four hospices over eight years, the book is filled with poignant accounts of clients and patients, personal reflections, and age-old stories filled with infinite wisdom.

About the author

Stan Goldberg, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Communicative Disorders at San Francisco State University. He is the author of more than two-hundred articles and seven internationally award-winning books, including Lessons for the Living: Stories of Forgiveness, Gratitude, and Courage at the End of Life, which received six national and international awards and was translated into Chinese, Indonesian, and Portuguese. He has lectured in Canada, Taiwan, Costa Rica and throughout the United States. He is a prolific award-winning writer, editorial consultant and recognized expert in the area of cancer support, end-of-life issues, caregiving, chronic illnesses, aging, and change. Goldberg was a bedside volunteer at the internationally renowned Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco for two years until its Guest House closed. He held similar responsibilities for the next six years with Hospice By The Bay, George Mark Children’s House, and Pathways Home Health and Hospice. With more than 300 publications, presentations, workshops, and interviews, he garnered 22 national and international awards for his writing. His website stangoldbergwriter.com contains hundreds of publically available articles on cancer, caregiving, aging, and chronic illnesses.